Get away weekend in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

My husband and I are planning to take 3 days to get away to Portsmouth, NH for the second weekend in April. We are thinking about staying at the Old Port Inn? The reviews on TA were awesome. It is resonably priced and we do not need to stay at a super luxorious place.

Does anyone have any suggestions on possible day trips? or a nice resturant not to missed?

I will be 7 months preganant, so we would like to try to keep things at a leisurely/relaxing pace.

Thanks.

Get away weekend in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Hi Bettyboop0528,

I%26#39;ve driven by that Old Port Inn SO many times, you have no idea! It%26#39;s JUST impeccable. The owners keep it up SO nice! When you read the reviews here they tell you a lot. There certainly couldn%26#39;t be any better write ups on the place, that%26#39;s for sure! You%26#39;ll have a great time there because it%26#39;s in a VERY good location for shopping, sightseeing and taking off for day trips, it%26#39;s ideal and NOT bad a night that they charge to stay there either!

You won%26#39;t have to drive too far to get in to the town of Portsmouth from here as you know. Look for the Strawberry Banke Museum, their Self-Guided tours start up May 1st but the Guided Tours are on weekends right through until April, they%26#39;re well worth it either way:

www.strawberybanke.org

Self-Guiding Season, May 1 through October 31: Open seven days a week. Monday through Saturday 10am to 5pm. Sunday, Noon to 5pm.

Guided Tour Season, November through April: Weekends, Christmas and Thanksgiving weeks. Saturdays, 10am-2pm. Sundays, noon-2pm. On the hour.

The Seacoast Repertory Theater is located right on Bow Street in Portsmouth, you could give them a call to see what Play is there, it%26#39;s a small theater with GREAT actors, you%26#39;d really like seeing these plays, I%26#39;m on their mailing list! Give them a call at 603 433-4472.

You could see if the boats are starting up that go out to the Isle of Shoals and take a day trip or a few hour cruise out to it. Check out the Steamship Company not too far from the Portsmouth Sheraton Hotel; you%26#39;ll see the gate and the sign for the boats near the docks and water right there.

The Kittery Outlets are right over the bridge from Portsmouth:

www.thekitteryoutlets.com

For restaurants in the area, there%26#39;s a TON of them, but I%26#39;ll give you a couple of my favorites for starters and you can decide which ones you%26#39;d like.

Warrens Lobster Pound locted in Kittery has a very good salad bar, it%26#39;s a fun place for lunch or dinner. Great coconut shrimp here!

For Italian cuisine and a wonderful atmosphere try Anthony Alberto%26#39;s located at 59 Penhallow St. right in Portsmouth. It%26#39;s one of the BEST, we go here for special occasions all the time. The OTHER one that%26#39;s right on Rte 1 in No. Hampton is Ronaldo%26#39;s, you%26#39;d need reservations at either place, they%26#39;re packed all the time, especially on weekends. They%26#39;re both extremely popular and quite good. You%26#39;d LOVE Ronaldo%26#39;s, it%26#39;s the cutest little place in a strip mall along Rte 1. but once you walk in to the place, you%26#39;re in the North End! Where we live right on the Seacoast, it gets so crowded that we get it TO GO a LOT, that%26#39;s how great it is, so look for it!

There%26#39;s a fantastic site that you should have as long as you%26#39;re going to be in the area in a few weeks. It%26#39;ll list every single restaurant imaginable on the seacoast and when you click each establishment it%26#39;ll give you the review on each one. It%26#39;s GREAT to have:

www.seacoasteats.com

You could take a ride along the coast to check out the Wentworth By The Sea Resort which was renovated in the last few years by the Marriott Hotel chain and WHAT a job they did with it, it%26#39;s about time someone did, it%26#39;s absolutely STUNNING there now.

We%26#39;ve gone here for drinks and appetizers a few times! One time we sat on their veranda with cups of tea, we didn%26#39;t want to leave it was so relaxing! It was last Spring right when all the flowers were in bloom. If you were ONLY going to be up here in MAY, you should see how gorgeous this place is with their landscaping and flowers! IN any case, you%26#39;ll still be able to walk the grounds and check it out, may be the flowers will just start to pop up from the ground...

www.wentworth.com

It%26#39;s pretty to take a ride along the whole NH seacoast during the day, you could take a walk through Odiorne State Park.

You could have lunch at Chauncey Creek in Kittery Point! You could pack a cooler and bring it here and sit at one of their picnic tables. Check out the reviews on that site above that I mentioned.

Here%26#39;s a couple of sites that you could get ideas on where to go and what to do on your visit:

www.portsmouthnh.com

www.portcity.org

www.seacoastonline.com

Have a great time!

Get away weekend in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

I forgot to tell you this, if you get the chance for Brunch, check it out at either the Wentworth By The Sea OR the Old Salt right in Hampton, both places are very good for a Sunday Brunch on the Seacoast:

www.oldsaltnh.com

You also could see if the Whale Watching trips are starting up yet. Just ask Skip at the Old Port if they%26#39;re even starting up yet for the season. It might be too early??? but you could always find out. Remember this one...';The Atlantic Queen II'; whale watching, it%26#39;s one of the ';good'; ones! You%26#39;d see the Humpback or Finback whales with them....

Foxrun Mall is right in Newington,NH as well. Personally, I%26#39;m not that crazy about it, nothing jumps out at me! BUT you might like it where you%26#39;re browsing through the area, you%26#39;ll see what I mean!

You could always take a ride from the Portsmouth area up to Maine in NO time. Just past the Kittery Outlets you keep going straight through for York, when you see the York Hospital sign along Rte 1 and you could drive along here for York Village and go to Brown%26#39;s Ice Cream stand and Nubble Lighthouse. Also if you wanted to just go further up to Ogunquit or Kennebunkport, ME. you could always do this too, SO much to do in SUCH little time, TONS of shops, restaurants and antique stores to explore! It%26#39;s better during the week to do these type of things though I think, especially this time of year before it gets too packed with the summer crowds!

Have a great time, hopefully you%26#39;ll have nice weather for it!

Bettyboop0528,

I forgot Chauncey Creek doesn%26#39;t open until Mothers Day in May sorry about that, it would have been great if it was though!

Here%26#39;s their site so you can see what it looks like with their neat picnic tables and also to check out the menu. If you%26#39;re ever up in this area again try to get here, the directions are right on their site, it%26#39;s kind of near the Kittery Outlets more or less, just going in another direction and a few miles away from it....

www.chaunceycreek.com

Hi NoMo1:

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions. You have planned the entire weekend for my husband and I. We are really looking forward to getting away. I%26#39;ll drop you a note when we return.

Thanks again!